1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a male terminal for a connector, in which an electrical contact portion of the male type has an increased strength.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-304738, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6 shows a related male terminal. This male terminal 60 includes an electrical contact portion 61 of the male type, formed at one end thereof so as to contact a mating terminal, and a wire connection portion 62 which is formed at the other end thereof, and is pressed to be grippingly connected to an electric wire 50. The male electrical contact portion 61 extends straight in the longitudinal direction. The wire connection portion 62 includes a wire conductor connection portion 64 for press-clamping (gripping) a conductor portion of the electric wire 50, and a wire sheath connection portion 63 for press-clamping a sheath of the electric wire 50, and these connection portions 64 and 63 are arranged on a line in adjacent relation to each other in the longitudinal direction. The wire conductor connection portion 64 includes a pair of clamping piece portions 64a, extending upwardly respectively from opposite side edges of a base plate of the terminal, and has a U-shaped cross-section. Similarly, the wire sheath connection portion 63 includes a pair of clamping piece portions 63a extending upwardly respectively from the opposite side edges of the base plate, and has a U-shaped cross-section. A box-like portion 65 of a generally rectangular cross-section is formed between the male electrical contact portion 61 and the wire connection portion 62, and this box-like portion 65 includes a bottom wall 65a, side walls 65b, extending upwardly respectively from opposite side edges of the bottom wall 65a, and a top wall 65c extending between the two side walls 65b in a bridging manner. A stabilizing plate 66 for preventing the reverse insertion of the terminal into a cavity is formed in a projected manner on the bottom wall 65a intermediate opposite ends thereof, and an engagement hole 66a for engagement with a retaining lance 71 is formed in the bottom wall 65a at a front end of the stabilizing plate 66. The male terminal 60 is primarily retained within a connector housing 70 by the retaining lance 71, and the male terminal 60 has a retaining portion 78 through which the male terminal 60 is secondarily retained by a spacer 72. An inter connecting portion 79 is formed forwardly of this retaining portion 78, and has a tapering peripheral surface, and this interconnecting portion 79 is integrally connected to the male electrical contact portion 61.
This male terminal 60 is received in the connector housing 70, and is fitted in the female terminal (mating terminal) 75, and this condition is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The male terminal 60 is inserted in a tubular portion 76 of the female terminal 75, and is held in contact with a resilient contact piece portion provided within the tubular portion 76. Here, a connector, having the male terminals received in its connector housing, is defined as a female connector while a connector, having the female terminals received in its connector housing, is defined as a male connector. A fitting chamber is formed in the female connector 68, and this female connector 68 can be releasably fitted on the male connector 66 through a lock arm 77.
In the above-described male terminal, however, there is a possibility that the electrical contact portion of the male terminal is bent for some reason before or when it is received in the connector housing. For example, when the male terminal is pressed to be connected to the electric wire, a pressing force acts on the wire connection portion, and therefore there is a possibility that the electrical contact portion is warped upwardly or downwardly. Even if such upward or downward warp is not encountered, there is a possibility that the electrical contact portion is bent at its proximal end when the male terminal is received in the connector housing. In this condition, when the male terminal is fitted into the female terminal, the distal end portion of the electrical contact portion is disposed out of position with respect to the female terminal, so that the electrical contact portion may incompletely contact the female terminal. When the male terminal is forcibly inserted, there is a possibility that the distal end portion of the electrical contact portion is damaged or broken. And besides, it is expected that the strength of the proximal end portion of the electrical contact portion decreases in the future because of a thin design of a printed circuit board and a small-size design of the terminal, and this problem is important also from this point of view. Heretofore, a bead has been formed at the proximal end of the electrical contact portion to thereby secure the strength. However, this is not sufficient, and a more effective countermeasure has been desired.
In order to solve the above problem, there has been proposed a method in which the bending/deformation of the electrical contact portion is beforehand examined, and is corrected. However, such a method requires much time and labor, and the correction is not sufficient, and therefore a simple and easy countermeasure has been desired.
With the above problem in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a male terminal in which an interconnecting portion, disposed adjacent to an electrical contact portion, is improved to thereby increase the strength of the electrical contact portion so that the bending and deformation of the electrical contact portion can be prevented.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a male terminal in which an electrical contact portion has an increased strength so as to meet a thin design of a printed circuit board and a small-size design of the male terminal.
To achieve the above objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal which comprises a terminal body, a wire connection portion, to which an electric wire is connectable, formed at one end portion of the terminal body, a male-type electrical contact portion, to which a mating female terminal is electrically connectable, formed at the other end portion of the terminal body, a box-like portion provided between the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion, and an interconnecting portion interconnecting the box-like portion and the electrical contact portion, the interconnecting portion being formed into a curved surface.
In the first aspect of the present invention, the interconnection portion, interconnecting the box-like portion and the electrical contact portion, has the curved surface. Therefore, even if a bending force, developing when the male terminal is inserted obliquely into the female terminal or when the mating terminals are out of alignment with each other, is prevented from acting on the proximal end portion of the cantilever-type male terminal in a localized manner.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal which comprises:
a wire connection portion to which an electric wire is connectable;
a male-type electrical contact portion, to which a mating female terminal is electrically connectable, including a bottom plate portion, the electrical contact portion being formed by bending one free side edge portion of the bottom plate portion thereof;
a box-like portion provided between the wire connection portion and the electrical contact portion; and
an interconnecting portion interconnecting the box-like portion and the electrical contact portion, the interconnecting portion including:
an upper wall surface portion extending from the one free side edge portion to the box-like portion,
a side wall surface portion bent outwardly from the upper wall surface portion, and
a bottom wall surface portion extending from the bottom plate portion of the electrical contact portion to the box-like portion,
wherein the upper wall surface portion of the interconnecting portion is bent toward the bottom wall surface portion of the interconnecting portion and extends in a peripheral direction of the interconnecting portion, and
wherein an area of intersection of the upper wall surface portion and the electrical contact portion is defined by a curved surface.
In the second aspect of the present invention, the interconnecting portion, interconnecting the box-like portion and the electrical contact portion, includes the upper wall surface portion, extending from the one free side edge portion to the box-like portion, and the side wall surface portion bent outwardly from the upper wall surface portion, and the upper wall surface portion is bent toward the bottom wall surface portion, extending from the bottom plate portion of the electrical contact portion to the box-like portion, and extends in the peripheral direction. With this construction, the interconnecting portion has a hollow cross-sectional shape, and the directional dependency for lateral bending is reduced, and the cross-section performance is enhanced. The area of intersection of the upper wall surface portion and the electrical contact portion is defined by the curved surface, and therefore a force will not act on the proximal end of the electrical contact portion in a localized manner.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the upper wall surface portion has one of an upwardly-slanting curved surface and an upwardly-slanting surface, which is gradually slanted toward the box-like portion from the one free side edge portion, and the bottom wall surface portion has a flat surface disposed in coplanar relation to the bottom plate portion of the electrical contact portion.
In the third aspect of the present invention, the upper wall surface portion has the upwardly-slanting surface, and the bottom wall surface portion has the flat surface disposed in coplanar relation to the bottom plate portion. The interconnecting portion has a tapering shape not over the entire periphery thereof, but over a generally half of the periphery thereof. Therefore, as compared with the male terminal discussed in the related art, the outer diameter of the tab portion can be made larger to have an increased rigidity. And besides, the interconnection portion is larger in thickness than the tab portion, and therefore bending and deformation can be prevented.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the interconnecting portion further includes a pair of side walls extended upward from opposite side portions of the bottom wall surface portion, and wherein the upper wall surface portion of the interconnecting portion is extended from one of the side walls, and the side wall surface portion of the interconnecting portion is bent outwardly from the upper wall surface portion to cover at least a portion of the other one of the side walls.